Georgia veteran nearly dies, has leg amputated from flesh-eating bacteria on Bahamas trip

By Amanda Rose

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    ATLANTA, Georgia (WANF) — “It was like an amazing trip that I never thought would lead to something like this. You know? Me almost dying,” said Jennifer Barlow.

Jennifer Barlow always dreamed of soaking in that Bahamas sun and swimming in the clear blue water.

What she didn’t plan was coming back home to Atlanta with a dangerous infection that almost took her life.

The veteran contracted a rare and fast-moving flesh-eating bacteria that left her right leg swelling and bright red.

Shortly after her trip, Barlow’s brother found her unconscious on her kitchen floor. That’s when he rushed her to the VA hospital.

“They knew immediately that I was septic and that’s where I got put into surgeries immediately and I went into a coma for 10 days,” she said.

Barlow spent the next month at the VA and another 4 months in the trauma center at Grady Hospital.

She had 33 surgeries in total to remove the infected tissue.

“When I woke up, I had what looked like a zombie leg. It looked like a dog had gotten a hold of it. And just chewed all over it. I had nothing of a leg left,” said Barlow.

Doctors later made the tough decision to remove Barlow’s leg entirely.

“The doctors told me even in the hospital that I was so lucky to be alive,” she said.

As Barlow adjusts to the world outside her hospital bed, the 33-year-old has a fresh perspective on life.

“I feel like I’m enjoying every moment of every day a little bit more than before this accident,” said Barlow.

Barlow has a message for you.

If you think something is wrong, she says, don’t wait to see a doctor. Act quickly.

“Don’t wait. If you go to the doctors, make sure they do a thorough examination. Don’t let them push you in and out,” she said.

Medical experts tell Atlanta News First that bacteria can be found all around us, even living on our skin. But what happened to Barlow is a one-in-a-million chance.

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